Thursday Movie Picks: Friends to Lovers Edition
Wandering through the Shelves hosts a weekly movie challenge in which you choose 3-5 movies based on that Thursday’s theme and explain why you chose those movies.
Today's theme is Friends to Lovers, so here are my choices!
Plus One (2019)
This gem of a movie was a complete surprise when it premiered in 2019. Two friends decide to be each other's dates/wing(wo)man to a summer's worth of weddings. Along the way, their friendship blossoms into more. The great thing about Plus One is that it doesn't end after the two leads finally get together. It deals with the awkwardness and doubt that come with falling in love with your best friend and the reality that it doesn't always end in a happily ever after. Jack Quaid and Maya Erskine have fantastic chemistry, and the movie itself is clever, raunchy (but not too raunchy), and hilarious.
Sleeping With Other People (2015)
Another rom-com that I felt deserved a lot more attention! Jason Sudeikis and Alison Brie are so good together as two people who lost their virginities to each other in college, lost touch, and then reconnected a decade later at a meeting for sex addicts. Lainey (Brie) is stuck on a man who has used her for years, and Jake (Sudeikis) has no idea how to commit.
There is obvious sexual tension between them, but they agree to keep things platonic so as not to ruin their budding friendship. Despite their mutual attraction, Jake and Lainey help one another overcome a lot of insecurities and doubts to become better, more confident people. This movie has so much heart and humor that it quickly became one of my favorite movies in the genre.
What If (2013)
So many romantic comedies have tried and failed to replicate the success of When Harry Met Sally, although some have come really close. The best I've seen so far is What If, a completely underrated romantic comedy starring Daniel Radcliffe and Zoe Kazan. Coming off a breakup, Wallace (Radcliffe) meets Chantry (Zoe Kazan) at a friend's party. They hit it off immediately, but... Chantry has a serious boyfriend. Wallace assures her he's okay with being friends, and the two form a deeper bond as their friendship grows.
Of course, things get complicated because Wallace is in love with Chantry and doing his best to respect that she's unavailable. It's such an enjoyable film that leaves you guessing as to how the two friends will end up. It also has a fantastic comedic performance from Adan Driver as Chantry's cousin and Wallace's best friend.
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I haven’t seen any of your picks. I already know of your first two picks but the last one is completely new to me.
It’s such a great rom-com! I highly recommend it.
I haven’t seen your first pick, but I have seen the other two. I really liked What If! It’s been a while since I’ve thought about that movie.
I wish it had gotten more attention when it was released. I also like the original title “The F Word” better than What If and I wish they had kept it.
I haven’t seen these, but I like the casts for each one. I’ll have to add them to my watch list! Unique picks!
They’re all definitely worth a watch! 🙂
The only one I’ve seen is What If which I liked but didn’t love. I wasn’t crazy about Zoe Kazan but as always I liked Daniel Radcliffe a great deal.
I’ve heard of the last but it never appealed to me but I like the sound of Plus One. I’ll have to try and track it down.
I don’t have a blog so I play along by posting my three picks in the comments. So many choices for this and several came instantly to mind but I figured they would be all over the place so I went on the hunt for more unusual ones and came up with these three.
The Wedding Singer (1998)-Nice guy Robbie Hart (Adam Sandler) is a wedding singer at a small hall in 80’s New Jersey who is about to marry Linda (Angela Featherstone) when he meets server Julia (Drew Barrymore) who has just started at the venue. Julia is engaged to Glenn (Matthew Glave) and they strike up a friendship over that mutual fact. But when Linda dumps Robbie on the eve of their wedding he falls apart and Julia trying to help him get back on his feet asks Robbie to help plan her upcoming nuptials. As they work on the plans Robbie realizes that not only is Glenn an enormous tool but that he’s falling for Julia who subconsciously is doing the same. Will they realize their true feelings in time? Probably Sandler’s sweetest, least abrasive film packed wall to wall with fun 80’s music and fashions.
The Full Monty (1997)-When hard times fall on an English town a group of men on the dole including Gaz (Robert Carlyle), Dave (Mark Addy), Lomper (Steve Huison) and Guy (Hugo Speer) form a male strip revue. Out of desperation to pull in crowds they promise to go “the full Monty”. Though they run into many hurdles, some comic and others serious, eventually they prevail, along the way buddies Lomper & Guy realize they’ve fallen for each other and end up a couple.
Hands Across the Table (1935)-Manicurist Regi Allen (Carole Lombard) works at a swanky hotel hunting for a rich husband. She thinks she’s found a plum pigeon in Theodore Drew III (Fred MacMurray), since he comes from a prominent family but finds out he’s as broke as she is since the stock market crash. They become friends though and decide to help each other in their gold digging. Regi meets wealthy hotel guest Allen Macklyn (Ralph Bellamy), who falls for her while Ted is waiting for Vivian Snowden (Astrid Allwyn) the heiress he has on the hook to return from Bermuda so he can hop back on the gravy train. All seems smooth sailing but as feelings between Regi and Theodore develop, their careful plans start to change.
Dan Radcliffe has really surprised me with his movie choices after Harry Potter and I think he’s become a really exciting actor to watch.
I absolutely adore The Wedding Singer but I’ve never seen the other two! I’ll have to add them to my list.
Nice post and welcome to the series!
I haven’t seen any of these before and the only one I’ve actually heard of is ‘What If’. I’ll read some more about them and see if they’re for me.
Thank you so much! 🙂 I’m sort of kicking myself for not taking part either.
Plus One was such a pleasant surprise. WHY did I never know Sleeping With Other People existed? I adore Alison Brie and Jason Sudeikis, that’s going straight on my watchlist <3
I really wish Plus One had gotten more attention when it was released. Jack Quaid has incredible leading man quality.
I hope you enjoy SWOP! It also has Adam Scott and Amanda Peet. I loved it.
What If is the only I’ve seen but I don’t remember whether I liked it or not.
It was really cute. It was one of the first movies I remember seeing Adam Driver in and he was pretty funny.
I have not seen any of your pics but all 3 sounds good to view. I like the leads in all 3
They’re all definitely worth a watch! 🙂